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I just bought a 2001 Chevy Silverado 2500hd with the duramax motor. The truck has 260k miles on it, and as far as I can tell, it's all original. This is my first diesel I've owned, my parents had a 6.5 powered 98 suburban when I was a kid that I drove occasionally in high school, and I loved it. I know the duramax is a big improvement in terms of power and reliability over the Detroit, but since this has so many miles on it, what should I be wary of? As soon as I get the legal stuff taken care of, (insurance and registration blah blah) I'm going to change all the fluids and filters (including coolant and flush the oil system.)

I gotta say, I could get used to the way this thing puts down power! Much better than the '14 half ton Silverado I just sold. And far better than my parents suburban, with less smoke. It climbed a 6% grade mountain pass at 70 mph in overdrive, like it was flat ground. I'm not sure if this truck was tuned or not, it's got a boost gauge and a pyrometer on the A-pillar, but it doesn't blow any black smoke at all, even if I punch it from a stop, nor does it has a "tuner" of any sort on the dash. Is there a way I can check the ecm tune to see if it's not stock? Speaking of smoke, even from a cold start it exhibits nothing, just fires right up and settles into a nice rattlely idle.